Automatic player for electronic musical instrument



Jan. 7, 1969 R, GLASS A 3,420,940

AUTOMATIC PLAYER FOR ELECTRONIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Filed own, 1965 sheetL of 5 Fl G 2 94 31 P 5313, u 1 I I 5 96 L I 2e b L lief- I 39 t 30 I 34INVENTORS RONALD GLASS CHARLES F. FUECHSE'LJII ATTORNEY Jan; 7, 1969 R.GLASS ETAL 3,420,940

' AUTOMATIC PLAYER FOR ELECTRONIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Filed 001;. 21,1965 Sheet 2 of 3 BEAT LINES IS ID l8 IS IS IE IS IS IS IE l8 IE 18 IB[8 l8 20 I6 I2 I4 20 LIGHT SOURCE ,L CHART DRIVE wITH LIGHT SENSITIVE 26SPEED C0NTRL\30 DETECTORS LIGHT SENSORS SENSITIVITY so CONTROL POWERSUPPLY swITcHIHG CIRCUITS LLLLL -11) FIG 4 j Y INVENTORS oRGAH RONALDGLASS CHARLES E FUECHSELJII ATTORNEY.

Jan. 7, 1969 R. GLASS ETAL 3,420,940

AUTOMATIC PLAYER FOR ELECTRONIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Filed Oct. 21, 1965Sheet 3 of s.

l2 V DC.

TO ONE SIDE OF, ORGAN KEY SWITCH TO OTHER SIDE OF ORGAN KEV SWITCH H6SENSITIVITY CONTROL FIG? +v TO ONE SIDE OF ORGAN KEY SWITCH INVENTORScommon T0 RONALD GLASS V ORGAN GROUND CHARLES E FUECHSELJII ATTORNEYUnited States Patent 3,420,940 AUTOMATIC PLAYER FOR ELECTRONIC MUSICALINSTRUMENT Ronald Glass, Hyattsville, Md. (5809 King Arthur Way,

Glendale, Md. 20769), and Charles F. Fuechsel III,

3421 Memphis Lane, Bowie, Md. 20715 Filed Oct. 21, 1965, Ser. No.499,855

US. Cl. 84-103 Int. Cl. Gf 1/00; (21% 3/06 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE This invention relates to automatic players for musicalinstruments and particularly for electronic instruments, such aselectric organs of the type having generators, producing tone signals atthe vibration frequencies of the notes of the chromatic scale, and meansfor translating said signals into audible sounds of any desired qualityand volume.

Because of the richness and variety of the tones produced by electronicinstruments such as electric organs, they have become extremely popularand have been purchased by individuals having very little background, orformal education, in music but who nevertheless are able to pick out thenotes of a simple melody and produce a reasonably pleasing eifect due tothe richness of the tone of the instrument itself, rather than theability of the musician. With passage of time, however, such purchaserslose interest in the instrument as their ability to play does notimprove. It would, therefore, be highly desirable to provide anapparatus capable of playing any selection on the instrumentautomatically. To further preserve the interest of the purchaser in theinstrument and to cater to his ego, it is desirable that the automaticplayer utilize in some measure his efforts and abilities at least inreading and transcribing the notes of a selected composition to acontrol sheet for the automatic player.

In light of the above brief remarks, it is a primary object of thepresent invention to provide an automatic player, for an electronicinstrument, which will enable an'unskilled musician to chart a musicalcomposition and subsequently use the chart to play the compositionautomatically and without fingering as often as desired. To this end theautomatic player features a strip on which the notes of a compositionmay be charted by merely marking areas of the strip, corresponding tothe notes of the selected musical composition, with pencil, crayon, inkor the like. The strip in combination with a drive, and photo cellcontrolled switching means plays the organ. With such apparatus, theuser need not play or even have the ability to play the selectedcomposition in order to prepare the control strip. Furthermore, the useris free to experiment with revisions, additions, deletions and otherrearrangements of the notes of the selected composition therebyenhancing the interest, creativity and musical ability of the user andlending individuality to the charted melody.

Another object of the invention is to provide an auto- *matic player, ofthe above described characteristics,

lutilizing a plurality of photo electric cells subject to the incidenceof light through said chart strip and each cell combined with electricswitching means for simulating the operation of the corresponding keyswitch, or coupler, of the organ, or other instrument, to sound thenotes charted on the strip.

A further object of the invention is to provide an elongated charting orrecording strip of paper, or the like, having a pattern of areasdelineated thereon, the lateral position of each representing a note ofthe musical scale and the length of each area representing a unit of thetime for which each note is to be sounded. With a strip of this nature,the notes of a selected melody may be charted on the strip, which may betranslucent, by opaquely marking the appropriate areas to preventtransmission of radiant energy such as light, to photo cells. Converselythe strip may be opaquely and the note markings translucent so as totransmit the light to the photo cells. Similarly the markings may bereflective, instead of conductive, so as to reflect light to the photocells.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide an automatic player,for electronic organs, utilizing a light obturating recording striphaving the characteristics described above and mounted in an accessorycabinet which may be placed directly on the organ, separated therefrom,and connected thereto by a cable, the accessory box including supply andtakeup rolls, a bank of photo cells, switching means for controlling thesignal tone generator outputs of the electric organ and means foradjusting the recording strip drive means to vary the speed, whereby themelodies recorded on the strip may be played at varying tempo or speed.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an accessoryplayer, for an electric organ, of the above described characteristics,which enables the organ to be played either automatically or by hand, asby manipulating the instruments keyboard, or both simultaneously.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an automatic player,of the above described characteristics, which may be connected to anorgan to play the latter without requiring excessive, or time consuming,electrical connections or circuit alterations of the organ.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide an automaticelectronic instrument player, having the above describedcharacteristics, which is of simple design, easy and inexpensive tofabricate, and easy to use.

The novel features that are considered characteristic of the inventionare set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The inventionitself, however, both as to its organization and its method ofoperation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, willbest be understood from the following description of specificembodiments when read in connection with the accompanying drawings,wherein like reference characters indicate like parts throughout theseveral figures and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an automatic player according to theinvention, with both the lamp bearing cover and the sheet drive rollcarriage tilted upwardly and a portion of the music chart sheet brokenaway to reveal photo cells therebeneath;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view taken centrally of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary plan view of a music chart sheet;

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of the player and its connections tothe organ;

FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram showing the motor drive for the music sheettogether with circuit elements for control of the speed of said drive;

FIG. 6 is a circuit diagram of one photo cell and its connected elementsfor switching control of an electronic organ; and

FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram similar to FIG. 6 but showing a modifiedcircuit for switching control of another type of organ.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, FIG. 3 illustrates asuitable music chart sheet usable even by an unskilled musician to markthe notes of a selected composition in such manner that the chart maysubsequently be placed in a player according to the invention forautomatically playing an electronic organ. The chart comprises anelongated sheet 10 of paper or other material translucent to light andhaving a matrix of longitudinal and lateral lines, 12 and 14respectively, dividing the sheet into repetitive transverse columns ofspaces or areas 16, each corresponding to a note of the musical scale.In the sample illustrated, the sheet has 45 areas 16 in each transversecolumn which represent the notes corresponding to the legend 20 at theleft of the first column. From inspection of the legend, it will bereadily apparent that certain areas 16 represent more than one note, forexample both a natural note and a sharp of the preceding note, or a flatnote and a sharp of the preceding note where the two have substantiallythe same frequency. As a specific example, G flat and F sharp areindicated for the same area and G sharp and A flat indicate another areaimmediately above G natural. Thus the transverse position of an area 16in each column represents one or more notes of the musical scale and theforty-five areas 16 in each column cover a total of nearly four octavesof the scale. The transverse lines 14 dividing the sheet longitudinallyare equally spaced so that the length of each area 16 represents auniform period of time, count or beat for a note. The heading at the topof the sheet labels each of the transverse lines 1B, meaning one beat.

With such a chart, a person desiring to chart a selected compositionmerely darkens or marks the area corresponding to the notes of thecomposition by reading the notes from the musical score and transcribingthem to the sheet in proper sequence and timing. For example, thedarkened area 22 represents G sharp and has a count of two beats Whilethe darkened area 24 represents F sharp having three beats. In thismanner the entire score of the selected composition may be charted onthe music sheet 10 to be an exact replica, or a variation if desired, ofthe selected composition. The marks 22, 24 may easily be applied withpencil, crayon, pen or other marking instruments so as to besubstantially opaque to light. Thereafter when the music sheet is drivenat a constant rate past a light source on one side, the markingsobstruct the passage of the light to suitable light sensing elementssuch as photo cells arranged in a transverse line, beneath each column,with one photo cell for each area 16 of the column. Ilie photo cells areconnected in switching circuits which simulate the action of thecorresponding key switches of an organ keyboard to play the organautomatically. If no marking is present the paper will pass the raythrough to the photo cell without actuating the switching circuit.

It will be apparent, from the above brief description, that the musicsheet may be made opaque and the markings translucent or transparent tolight, in which case the switching circuits must be modified to simulatethe organ key switch when they receive light rather than when they aredarkened. Alternatively the markings may be reflective and the lightsource and photo cells arranged so that the markings will reflect raysto the corresponding photo cell. It should also be clearly understoodthat applicants do not limit themselves to utilization of light in thevisible spectrum, since the invention may be adapted to rays ordinarilyinvisible to the human eye and to forms of radiant energy other thanlight rays.

FIG. 4 illustrates schematically the various elements utilized in theautomatic player and partly described above. The Chart 10 is guided overspool 26 and driven at constant speed by drive means 30. A light source28 is disposed above the chart and a bank 40 of light sensitivedetectors or photo cells is disposed under the chart. A panel 50 ofswitching circuits include the cells and in turn are connected by acable 60 to the organ which is to be played. A conventional power supplyis incorporated in the player to supply power for biasing the lightsensitive detectors and the semiconductor switching elements of theswitching circuits.

Referring now more particularly to FIGURES 1 and 2, the player, asbriefly described in the preceding paragraph, is incorporated in acabinet open at the top, but partially closed by a short cover member 92which houses the lamp 28. Cover 92 is hinged to the cabinet at 94 topermit upward tilting for access to lamp 28 which is illustrated asbeing a fluorescent tube which may be covered by different colorfilters, not shown, and which is powered by any suitable fluorescentlamp power and starting circuit. The music sheet 10 rolled on a sup plyspool 25 is led over a platen 96 and onto a takeup spool 26. The drive30 for the music sheet comprises a DC. motor 32 housed within thecabinet 90 whose output shaft 33 is connected through reduction gears 34to a pulley 35. A friction drive roller 36 journaled in a hinged member37 is adapted to be swung into engagement with the music sheet 10 ontakeup roll 26 to drive the sheet onto the roll at a constant speed.Drive roll 36 is connected by means of chains or belts 38, 39 andadditional pulleys to the pulley 35.

One possible drive circuit subject to speed variation control is shownin FIG. 5 wherein the motor is connected through the emitter andcollector of transistor T1 across a source of DC. potential. In parallelwith this subcircuit is resistor R1 and potentiometer P1 controlled byknob K in series. Rotations of the potentiometer adjustment control knobK will modify the armature current of the motor changing its speed up ordown. In this manner the speed of passage of the music sheet from roll25 to roll 26 may be adjusted so that the composition charted thereoncan be played at any desired speed from very slow to very fast. In FIG.5, as well as in FIGS. 6 and 7, the potentials indicated as plus andminus V are obtained from power supply 80, not visible in FIGS. 1 and 2but which may be of any suitable type, such as a rectifier bridgeconnectable to a source of A.C. voltage through a cord 82, FIG. 1, toconvert the A.C. potential to DC. potentials of proper magnitude. Itshould be further recognized that although the simple drive for themusic sheet illustrated in FIG. 2 is suitable to accomplish the intendedpurpose, many other types of drives may be utilized including gear andclutch drives directly to the takeup spool with compensating means forchanges in the diameter as the sheet is wound on the spool.

Forty-five photo cells 41 are shown aligned in a bank 40 comprising abar-like housing having separate pockets for each photo cell opening tothe top toward which the sensitive upper surfaces of the photo cellsface. Photo cells 41 may be of any suitable type. In the illustratedexample the photo cells are preferably semiconductors of cadmiumselenide, lead sulphide, or the like, whose resistivity changes in theorder of from many megohms when dark to the order of several kilohmswhen light is incident upon their sensitive surfaces. Each photo cell isconnected in a switching circuit, a block of forty-five such circuitsbeing diagrammed at 50 in FIGS. 2 and 4. These circuits are connectedthrough leads in cable 60 to the appropriate key switches of the organ70 to be played.

Most electronic organs comprise a plurality of tone signal generatorswhich are constantly energized and operative to produce electricaloscillations having frequencies corresponding to the desired tones. Theoutputs of the generators are connected to the key switches, orconplers, operated manually by depressing the keys of the organ keyboardto send the outputs to voicing circuits, amplifiers and speakers whereinthe electric signals are combined and converted to desired sounds ofcorresponding frequency. In one type of organ the output signals fromthe tone generators are conducted through the closed key switchesdirectly to the voicing circuits. In another popular type of organ,closing of the key switch applies potential to the appropriate voicingcircuit already connected to a corresponding tone generator. Twoswitching circuits, suitable for the above described organs, either ofwhich may be utilized in the accessory player to simulate the operationof the key switches of the organ to which the player is connected, areshown in FIGS. 6 and 7.-

In FIG. 6 each photo cell 41 is connected in serie with resistors R2, R3and potentiometer P2 across the appropriate DC. potential. The base ofemitter T2 is tapped to this series subcircuit between the photo celland the resistor R2 and its collector is connected to one side of theappropriate organ key switch, while its emitter is connected to theother side of the same key switch by leads 52 and 54 within cable 60.When the photo cell is subjected to light through the music sheet itsresistance is low placing a high negative bias on the base of thetransistor T2 preventing the transistor from conducting. When however anopaque mark corresponding to a note to be played passes between thephoto cell and the light source, the photo cell resistance increasescausing the bias on the base of the transistor T2 to move towardpositive and rendering it conductive whereby the leads 52, 54 beingacross the contacts of the associated key switch in effect short the keyswitch connecting the tone generator output to the voicing circuit andsimulate the exact action of the key in closing the key switch contacts.Accordingly the appropriate note is sounded in the organ.

In FIG. 7 is shown a control circuit suitable for organs of the secondtype mentioned above. In this circuit, the photo cell 41 in series withresistor R2 and potentiometer P2 is connected across the source of DC.potential and the base of transistor T2 is again tapped into said seriescircuit adjacent the photo cell. The emitter of transistor T2 isconnected through a resistor R to a common ground with that of the organand the collector is connected through resistor R6 to the base of asecond transistor, T3. Resistor R4 biases the base of transistor T3whose emitter is connected to the positive DC potential (approximately18 volts). The collector of transistor T3 is connectable through lead 56to one side of the appropriate organ key switch. When light strikesphoto cell 41 its resistance is low and the current correspondingly highso as to bias transistor T2 to non-conducting state. When photo cell 41is darkened by passage of an opaque marking on 'the music sheet, itsresistance is increased raising the bias on the transistor T2 andcausing it to conduct. When transistor T2 conducts, current flows fromthe positive source through R4, R6 the collector and emitter and R5 toground, which lowers the bias on the base of transistor T3 causing italso to conduct. In this state the positive 18 volts from the .powersource of the player is applied directly to one side of thecorresponding organ key switch to enable a gating circuit between thetone generator and the voicing circuit thus simulating the action of thekey switch when its key is normally depressed by fingering. Accordinglythe appropriate sound is produced in the organ.

In both circuits of FIGS. 6 and 7 the potentiometer provides anadjustment of the current flowing through the photo cell to adjust thesensitivity thereof to the particular paper or other materialconstituting the music sheet andto the lamp or other means utilized forilluminating the photo cell through the sheet.

It will be apparent from the above description that the described playeroperates very simply and easily to simulate the action of key switches,or couplers, on organs when played by fingering of their keyboardswithout the necessity for actually fingering the keyboard. However,nothing prevents the musician from playing the composition manually andautomatically at the same time, to observe and correct deviationsbetween notes sounded by his fingering and the notes sounded by themusic sheet through the intermediary of the photo cells and switchingcircuits of the player. While only two switching circuits have beenillustrated these would apply to most of the.

electric organs now on the market. Variations in the switching circuitsmay obviously be made as a matter of design once the action of theparticular organ keyboard is ascertained. A number of unreferencedswitches are shown on the player in FIG. 1 which are useable to provideother photo cell switching circuits or to combine the actions of anumber of key switches automatically.

As described it is further apparent that applicants device enablesanyone having minimum of familiarity with musical notes to quickly andeasily chart the notes from a selected melody onto the music sheet 10,requiring as a tool only a pencil, pen, crayon or the like. However itis equally obvious that if a purchaser of an accessory player does notwish to or does not have the time to actually chart a composition,premarked music sheets with popular compositions already charted thereoncan be made and sold to be played at will by the purchaser. The playerfor the first time provides an attractive accessory device which may beplaced on or adjacent to an electronic organ and which may be used byunskilled musicians easily to play favorite selections automatically,thereby providing many hours of enjoyment despite the lack of ability ofthe musician to play the organ manually with appropriate skill anddexterity.

Although certain specific embodiments of the invention have been shownand described, it is obvious that many modifications thereof arepossible. The invention, therefore, is not to be restricted exceptinsofar as is necessitated by the prior art and by the spirit of theappended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An automatic player for an electric musical instrument, comprising anelongated strip having markings representing musical notes transverselydisposed and whose lengths denote time for which the note is to besounded, means for driving said strip at a constant speed, a source ofenergy rays disposed on one side of the strip and a plurality of energysensitive cells aligned transversely of said strip to receive energyrays under control of said markings, a circuit for each of said cellsincluding the cell and switch means controlled thereby operative tosimulate action of a key switch of the instrument for the notecorresponding to the marking associated with said cell when the switchmeans is connected to the key switch and a marking on the strip isinterposed between the source of energy rays and its corresponding cell.

2. An automatic player, for an electric musical instrument of the typehaving a plurality of tone signal generators whose power outputs areconnected to voicing circuits actuated by manual manipulation of the keyswitches of a keyboard, comprising an elongated strip havingtransversely disposed areas, markings representing musical notes andwhose length denote time for which the note is to be sounded in certainof said areas, one of said strip and its markings being opaque topassage of radiant energy and the other being at least partiallytransparent to such passage, means for driving said strip at a constantspeed, a source of radiant energy disposed on one side of the strip anda plurality of aligned photo cells, one for each note representedtransversely of the strip, disposed on the opposite side of the strip, acircuit for each of said photo cells including the photo cell and switchmeans controlled thereby and operative to simulate the switching actionof an associated key switch on the instrument to which it may beconnected when a marking on the strip is interposed between the sourceof radiant energy and its corresponding photo cell.

3. An automatic player according to claim 2 wherein said strip is formedof translucent material and said markings are opaque.

4. An automatic player according to claim 3 wherein said source ofradiant energy is an electric lamp for generating light.

5. An automatic player according to claim 2 in combination with amusical instrument having a plurality of tone signal generators, voicingcircuits, means for coupling said signal generators and voicingcircuits, a manual keyboard and key switches operated by the keys ofsaid keyboard to actuate the voicing circuits, said switch means of theautomatic player being connected to said key switches and beingoperative to simulate action of said key switches to play a compositionindependently of the keys of the keyboard.

6. An automatic player according to claim 2 wherein said circuits eachcomprise a source of electric energy connected in series with one ofsaid photo cells, resistor means and a potentiometer for controllingflow of current and the resultant sensitivity of the photo cell, therebeing further included a semiconductor switching device biased by a tapon said series circuit and operative to simulate the switching action ofa key switch of a musical instrument.

7. An automatic player according to claim 6 wherein said semiconductorswitch device is a transistor having one element connected to saidseries circuit, a second element for connection to one side of the keyswitch, and a third element for connection to the other side of the keyswitch.

8. An automatic player according to claim 7 wherein said semiconductorswitching device is a transistor whose base is connected to said seriescircuit and whose collector and emitter are connectable to the saidsides of the key switch.

9. An automatic player according to claim 7 wherein said semiconductorswitching device comprises a pair of transistors so connected to eachother and a source of electric energy as to cause conduction of thesecond transistor when the first transistor conducts by reason of changeof bias on its base when the associated photo cell fails to receiveradiant energy, said second transistor having a collector for connectionto one side of an instrument key switch.

10. An automatic player according to claim 9 wherein the base of saidfirst transistor is connected to said series circuit, the collector ofsaid first transistor being connected in series with a resistor to thebase of said second transistor, and the emitter of said secondtransistor being connected to the positive terminal of said source ofelectric energy.

11. An automatic player according to claim 2 wherein said means fordriving the strip includes means for changing the drive speed comprisingan electric motor having its armature current variably controlled by atransistor and a variable resistor connected to a source of electricenergy whereby to change the tempo of a musical selection being played.

12. A roll of material for charting a musical composition toautomatically play said composition on an electronic musical instrument,comprising an elongated sheet, wound in a roll and formed of a materialhaving a given characteristic conduction for a selected type of energyray and adapted to receive mar-kings having a substantially differentconduction characteristic for the selected type of ray, longitudinal andtransverse lines on said sheet dividing the sheet into a transversecolumn of areas repeated for substantially the length of the sheet, theposition of each area of each said transverse column representing a noteof the musical scale and the length of said areas being equal andrepresenting a unit of time for sounding of the notes, and a transversecolumn of indicia at one end of the sheet juxtaposed an adjacenttransverse column of areas and indicating the notes of the musicalscale, said areas being adapted to receive said markings by applicationof a marking instrument.

13. A roll for automatically playing an instrument according to claim 12wherein said material is paper translucent to light rays and is adaptedto receive markings in said areas which are opaque to light rays.

14. A roll for automatically playing an instrument according to claim 13wherein appropriate ones of said areas bear markings corresponding tothe notes of a musical composition.

15. A roll for automatically playing an instrument according to claim 12wherein said column of indicia is repeated at uniformly spaced intervalsthroughout the length of said sheet.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,141,056 7/ 1964 Kisker 84--1.033,267,196 8/1966 Welsh et al 841.18 3,309,454 3/ 1967 Cutler et al.84--1.18

ARTHUR GAUSS, Primary Examiner.

DONALD D. FORRER, Assistant Examiner.

US. Cl. X.R.

